Cholesterol screening in Worthing an ‘important’ event

HEALTH experts carried out free ‘life line’ screenings on members of the public last Wednesday as part of National Cholesterol Week.

Members of the cholesterol charity, Heart UK, and Worthing-based, Life Line Screening ‑ a preventive community health screening organisation ‑ were on hand at the Guildbourne Centre in Worthing to conduct cholesterol screenings and to raise awareness about the dangers of high cholesterol.

Mayor of Worthing, Bob Smytherman, was the first person to be tested on the day.

He said: “It is a really good cause. It is really good for people of any age to get the test. Men tend to be the worst at doing it so I think it is really important we have events like this in a nice friendly environment.”

“If you can prevent a lot of this stuff from happening we will reduce the burden on the NHS so it is a win-win all round.”

Cholesterol is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. Six in ten adults in the UK have raised cholesterol.

Linda Main, dietetic advisor for Heart UK, said: “There are many causes of high cholesterol. About 50 per cent of cases are genetically driven and the other 50 per cent are due to lifestyle choices. Saturated fat drives it, foods such as sausages, burgers, full-fat dairy products and cakes and pastries.

“Smoking can cause high cholesterol levels. The mix of smoking and high cholesterol can be quite deadly.”

Linda added that the screening process only took a few minutes.

Diane Swettenham, team manager of Winchester team of life screening, said: “Our aim today is to make people aware of the risk of cholesterol and heart disease and making them aware of the services they can access.”

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